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Sometimes you feel like, "I'm just going to bag this day.
I'm going to eat chocolate and serve cereal for dinner."
Motherhood is dirty stuff. It's dirty work.
I should be wearing rubber gloves all day long (laughs).
Oh my word!
My name is Deborah Dushku Gardner.
There is Daddy's lost iPod. We have evidence.
I'm a full-time stay-at-home mom of five children.
This one knows some Bulgarian.
[Bulgarian]
Love you, bye, have a great day.
There's so much to be done in a day.
There are hoards of laundry and dishes to be done,
and there are kids to be picked up.
There was a time when I was absorbed in my own troubles,
and I could not reach out or get beyond my own frustrations.
And I was so depressed and discouraged, I couldn't see the
beauty in my life. The orphans changed that.
I had the chance to live in Bulgaria for a year and a half.
One strong memory is the first time I went to an orphanage.
These dark-eyed, dark-haired little ones just ran to me
and had their arms up, saying, "Mama, Mama."
And they just clung to me, this mother figure.
I scooped up as many of them as I could,
held them, and thought, "I've got to do something about this."
So it started out very small, but now we're helping 27
orphanages. [Bulgarian]
A lot of windows were broken,
so it would just snow in their bedrooms.
This room will be remodeled. We can show you what's been done.
We provide for their basic needs, some medical needs,
and their emotional needs also.
I entered this one room and felt the stare of this one kid.
I looked over to see a young girl with this big smile,
and her smile said to me, "I know you. I know you."
I looked at her and thought, "I know you too, and I'm going
to help you. I'm not going to leave without doing something
for you. And you can count on it."
I really came to know the power of a mother.
There's no mom coming in the night with their blanky or
telling them there are no monsters under the bed.
When I'm woken up in the middle of the night, I try
to keep that in mind, that it's a privilege for me and my child.
And I can take that understanding in my own life
and realize I need to be a great mom for my kids.
One thing I love is story time with my two little girls,
talking about how their day went,
helping them with their own friends or own situations.
I do what I can; I let the rest fall by the wayside.
You know, I'm not doing it all perfectly.
And that's okay.
I understand that really, God is proud of me for what I did today.
I'm a storybook-reading, toilet bowl--cleaning,
imperfect full-time mom of five kids and 2,000 orphans.
I am Deborah Dushku Gardner, and I'm a Mormon.